Learning Engineering Toolkit: Evidence-Based Practices from the Learning Sciences, Instructional Design, and Beyond

Learning Engineering Toolkit: Evidence-Based Practices from the Learning Sciences, Instructional Design, and Beyond

The Learning Engineering Toolkit is a practical guide to the rich and varied applications of learning engineering, a rigorous and fast-emerging discipline that synthesizes the learning sciences, instructional design, engineering design, and other methodologies to support learners. As learning engineering becomes an increasingly formalized discipline and practice, new insights and tools are needed to help education, training, design, and data analytics professionals iteratively develop, test, and improve complex systems for engaging and effective learning. Written in a colloquial style and full of collaborative, actionable strategies, this book explores the essential foundations, approaches, and real-world challenges inherent to ensuring participatory, data-driven, learning experiences across populations and contexts. "Introduction: What Is Learning Engineering?", "Chapter 1: Learning Engineering is a Process", and "Chapter 2: Learning Engineering Applies the Learning Sciences" are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. “I am so impressed with how clearly and methodically this book has laid out the main tenets of the field and provided both practical examples and inspiring stories to bring the principles to life. I think this will be an immensely useful resource.” ― Joseph South, PhD , Chief Learning Officer, International Society for Technology in Education, and former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the US Department of Education “Popularized by MOOCs and the move to online learning during the pandemic, learning engineering is an emerging field that will become a standard discipline within universities in the years to come. Where science is the understanding of nature and engineering is the use of science in service of humanity, learning engineering incorporates learning science and cognitive science-based strategies to improve student outcomes. The Toolkit is an essential resource for understanding this field and a playbook for leveraging learning engineering.” ― Anant Agarwal, PhD , Chief Open Education Officer at 2U and Founder of edX “Great advancements in learning can come from a multi-disciplinary approach that recognizes the value of different professions and mindsets.” ― Angela L. Hernandez, EdD , Lead Skills Architect, Western Governors University “The outstanding authors of this text answered most of my uncertainties about the new learning engineering approach. The chapters in this well-written book clearly describe the questions that need to be addressed when designing learning experiences for all ages and contexts. It then provides tools that can be used to provide answers and generate new questions. Readers who might be concerned about whether “engineering” can be applied to human learning will be impressed with the scope of the chapters and the examples provided. I was especially attracted to the emphasis on supporting diverse learners and on making ethical decisions as well as the tools suggested for scaling small but successful efforts. The approach described in this book is our best hope for drawing together the many professional fields and specializations that attempt to create effective learning experiences in all areas. The authors clearly intend to adopt the best of what we’ve learned from past research in related areas while developing tools that fill the gaps in those areas. I intend to use the book as an introductory text for my undergraduate instructional design and educational psychology students.” ― Richard E. Clark, EdD , Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology and Technology, University of Southern California “This new Toolkit brings together complementary, diverse, and fresh perspectives on learning and development in our rapidly changing world. I can see it forming an invaluable handbook for learning and development professionals, or curious organisational leaders interested in the science and engineering of effective learning at scale.” ― Julian Stodd , author and founder of Sea Salt Learning “I have talked with many CEOs of EdTech companies and chief learning officers over the past few years. All of them have asked, “what is learning engineering and how do we do it?” I have wanted to have a handbook I could hand them and their teams to be able to better mature their systems for designing and improving learning. Well, here it is! Full of theory, process, methods, tools, and above all, examples, stories, and extremely practical tips. This book has everything a learning team needs to begin applying learning engineering. And no wonder: It was written by a truly cross-disciplinary, cross-industry, cross-functional, and truly boundary spanning team. This book will sit next to my computer―well worn and marked through―as I guide teams in building impactful learning experiences.” ― David Porcaro , VP of Learning